Well the 2013 Australian Open is almost upon us and Andy Murray will go into it as one of the favourites. His record in Melbourne stands up very well having reached two of the last three finals and almost made the final last year. He will go into the tournament with a whole new mindset as a slam winner now and that must put him in good stead surely. Clearly, his biggest threats will be Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and a lot could depend on the semi-final draw. It is likely that Andy will draw the No.1 seed Novak Djokovic in the semi again and that may just be a virtual final. If Andy were to win that I'd be super-confident he could win his second slam but lets not get too far in front of ourselves. Andy, hopefully, can put his friend Ross Hutchins illness out of his mind and focus on the task in hand. It is imperative he can negotiate his way through the early rounds with the minimum of fuss and without drawing matches out too long.

Decrepitude wrote:I don't mind who wins. Andy has a good record against Tsonga, and it's time he got rid of the "can't beat Fed in a slam" slur.

First it was "can't beat him in a final", then it was "can't beat him in a best-of-five final" - time for the last one to go.

I see what you are saying Dec. However, Federer's fans will have a ready made excuse now if Fed wins here and loses against Murray - it will be taken as fact that Fed's age beat him and absolutely nothing else.

Yes, I'm just trying to cut down their number of hate-posts!

For anybody else like me who does not have Eurosport on tv, the semi will be shown at 8.15am on Friday on BBC2.

I'm not only nervous about this one - Fed had a not very good match yesterday, just scraped through, but has a nasty habit of throwing in a match like that then sailing through the next round. Even if Andy plays well and wins, Djokovic is looking scary good, although admittedly he matches up well against Ferrer, which may have made him look better than he was. I didn't see very much of that match, I had too much to do.

Last edited by Decrepitude on Thu 24 Jan 2013 - 11:27; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : typo)

Yes Djokovic did look very good today however Ferrer really disappointed. He offered no Plan B and not even sure if he had a Plan A. It played right into Novak's hands allowing him to totally relax and look scarily good in my opinion which wasn't hard in the circumstances.

As for tomorrow, well yes I suppose we are all nervous but lets remember that even if Andy loses he has several more years at the top whilst Fed is in the twilight of his career so he'll get other chances. As for how the match will go well I have already changed my mind many times on who I think will win.

Mental Strength: Federer wins as he has the winning mentality and the Indian sign over Andy in slams whilst Andy is a little more brittle and highly self-critical.

Physical Strength: Andy has cruised through to the semis in short time so he will never have been fitter than now for a slam semi. Federer is 31 and endured a real test of three and a half hours against Tsonga. Can he recover? I think so but Andy has the edge in this category.

First Serve: This will be crucial and historically Roger's first serve percentage in these type of matches have been better than Andy's. However, Andy can boast a high percentage at this tournament. Too tight to call and depends on the night.

Returning: Andy wins out. His return of serve is at least on a par with Djokovic if not better, Roger is no mug here but not quite as impressive.

Forehand: Roger's forehand has had a reputation of going off but when on song i is a mighty weapon. Andy's forehand has improved immensely under Lendl's tuition and is now a feared weapon. Andy edges this.

Backhand: Andy's backhand was once his prize weapon but as his forehand has improved his backhand has gone the other way. Alarmingly poor in this tournament. Federer's backhand is strong but was leaking plenty of errors against Tsonga. Federer edges this.

Volleying: For me Federer just edges this purely because Andy doesn't volley enough for my liking.

As you can see all very, very tight. My one big wish is that Andy goes out there and gives it a real go and does himself justice. If he loses in four or five sets then it would be hard to take but better than a tame three sets defeat. A win would be immense for Andy, absolutely immense in terms of future match-ups with Fed. It would be a power swing and another boost to Andy's self-belief and I myself would fancy him to beat Djokovic. If Fed wins it will be hard physically and can't see Federer being able to wear Novak down in the final.

Hopefully, a win for Andy but have my doubts purely on Andy's patchy form so far in the tournament and that slam record V Federer.

Well CC, I agree with most of your sections there, apart from mental strength which I think Andy has improved on in the last 6 months and that Indian sign may not hang so comfortably with the Olympics still fresh in Feds memory. It was the one thing missing from his mantelpiece and the one thing he wanted so badly, he has signed up for Rio in all but his ghost.

I don't see Andy regressing into anything like his past self in this semi, in fact I think it will be Federer that wilts first. Roger may get a set back from a Murray that loses a bit of focus and concentration, but Murrays game for me is now superceding Federers in most depts, yes, Fereder has more finesse and range of shots, but Murrays ability to run the ball down negates a lot of those shots. Tsonga allowed Federer the space he needs to get the racquet swinging, Andy doesnt, which is why he has beaten him so many times in the past, but in slams, Federer had the edge in experience, thats not the situation anymore, Andy has far more attitude than before and far more intensity than in previous meetings.

I think it will be too much for Federer and the only way he will win is if the old Andy turns up with the self destruct button at the ready.

Good points Jubbahey. For me this match is massive and the hoo-hah being made of it on 606v2 with multiple preview threads shows it has captured the imagination and the amount of Federer fans tipping Murray shows how far Andy has come and how he is now recognised as a great talent is pleasing. A win for Andy would be another step towards a position of great power in the sport, another massive boost to his self-belief and would leave me really confident he could beat Djokovic in the final. A defeat doesn't bear thinking about. It would feel like a very slight step backwards and offer encouragement to Federer for future slam meetings but in the long term not so disasterous as it seems clear to me that Andy will be in slam contention now for perhaps the next five years. As long as Andy is aggressive and goes down fighting ie in five sets that won't be too bad but if he goes too passive and moody a la Andy of old I will be disappointed. I just hope it is a classic and both players play their best and Andy wins. Best of luck Andy

A great win for Andy Murray in five sets (should have been four) in a four hour long match. Murray's first serve was great today and key to success. He was also very aggressive and outdone the master Federer for winners hit. Great stuff and it is his third slam final on the bounce - he is now stepping up to the plate big time.

the stats are so impressive for Murray: 21 aces, 62 winners (and a little under 50 UEs), and a very very fine first serve percentage of 64% (in fact it's not a coincidence that the only set in which it dipped slightly - to 51% - he lost his serve a couple of times). I also thought that (back end of the fourth excluded) his second serve worked very nicely, he won more than 60% of points behind it!

Really, that was IMO his best ever performance in a slam, he was almost bullying Federer from the baseline, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that to Federer on a HC. Federer fought really hard, and somehow managed to push it to five sets, but Murray never looked like he was going to let that one slip. He just looks so confident out there at the moment.

I only saw the first and last set, but I had set the new DVR recorder. How lucky was it that I was home when the dratted BBC switched channels! I was able to stop the BBC2 recording, change channels, and start recording again (on this machine you can't just change the channel mid-record like I could with the old cassette recorder)

Finally home and in a few minutes I intend to settle down in front of the tv and watch the entire match, by which time it will be time for bed.

I managed to see all the match in dribs and drabs throughout the whole day, courtesy of Eurosport, BBC 2 and bbc player online (not iPlayer).

I swore like a trooper when he lost the 4th set, twice! but needn't have worried as the start of the 5th set showed me why I believe.

Is that the last wave goodbye from Fed at the Aussi open ? I feel a last hurrah at Wimbledon lurking in the wings. A surprisingly jaded Federer played that last set, and Murray looked like he'd just come off a practice session, such was his focus. I felt sorry for Roger, he looked a broken man at the end and I think its going to hit him hard, esp waking up to the media garbage that will be spread across the Saturday paps.

There were a few letdowns by Murray, but for once I agree with Miss Wade, we have to allow this kind of thing when supporting Andy, he's in such an aggressive mood, that shots will go out and hit the net, as long as the winners keep coming, UE's will happen but the wins will accumulate.

Impressive ending to the match from Murray, the first break of serve deflated Roger and he never got a look in from that point on. How sunday goes is anyone's guess.

If the Real djoko turns up, he'll win it, if the real Murray turns up, he'll win it, if both turn up, it'll be a humdinger of a final, but if it goes to 5 sets again, I think Andy may well edge it, he's conditioned now to the late starts and the indoors feel and didn't have too much of a workout today, as the 5th set was a bit of a wind down for him.

Looking forward to it and will just enjoy it for what it is, the best matchup for an Aussie final we could wish for.

Andy Murray's serving (first serve that is) was superb today and put Roger in the shade. Also what I really loved was the aggression especially at one point he gave a snarling expression at the camera full of desire and aggression. It really made me laugh when a certain poster on 606v2 later labelled Murray a pusher despite the fact he hit 21 more winners than his hero who is deemed the attacking king of tennis. Anyway Andy was mentally rock solid today and I knew he was destined to win as soon as he bounced back from the disappointing second set loss (could easily have won it) by winning the third set. I was fairly calm as Andy was clearly in a mood that he wasn't going to be denied.

Andy has now notched up a mightily impressive three slam final appearances on the bounce and if he is not too physically fatigued I fancy him to beat Djokovic. Yes Novak looked great against Ferrer but who wouldn't? Ferrer was a big disappointment with no real game plan and once he went a break down in the first set it was clear there would only be one winner. Remember that Andy won their last slam match-up and Andy's confidence will be very high after beating Roger.

To end my day on a damp squib though - looks like I will miss the final as I am down to be working on Sunday morning. I am trying to get a swap but my efforts look like they will be in vain.

But yes, I agree that Andy will go into the final with an immense level of confidence, it can do no harm only good.

It was good to see Andy bounce back every time Federer launched a recovery, and pay him back in spades. I can't see the final going anywhere else but a 5 setter, if both players perform to their levels. I suppose it will be a war of attrition between two strong minds, each trying to gain the upper hand in the mental battle of wits.

Should be a good match, will any of us manage to enjoy it though ? lol.

It is odd but I think (if I get to watch it) I will enjoy it. No real pressure as it seems evidently clear that Andy has broken down all the chief barriers between him and slam wins and regardless of the result another slam win looks far more likely to come than not.

Jubbahey wrote:You can watch it on your mobile CC, if Android, you can go to the BBC sport website, mobile version and click on the LIVE broadcast in the tennis section (MOTBO me).

Not sure about other phones, but I managed to get the last set on the phone and the PC at work.

Not really an option though as my job is in a customer-facing role. Thanks anyway. I will record it on my Virgin Tivo box and catch it when I finish work. I don't hold out much hope of avoiding finding out the result before hand though.

Not really an option though as my job is in a customer-facing role. Thanks anyway. I will record it on my Virgin Tivo box and catch it when I finish work. I don't hold out much hope of avoiding finding out the result before hand though.

Have the phone on your lap with the sound off and an occasional thoughtful, in conversation look downwards will look natural. A few nods of the head and a couple of "Well yes, thats right" remarks will camouflage what your doing.

It works for me at school with the kids, they do talk in a strange tongue sometimes, esp in the reception and key stage 1 years, although some of it makes perfect sense.

Looking forward to the match tomorrow. I am sure it will be great and will be a brutally physical battle that may run for some time especially if it goes the distance. Both players are evenly matched now I feel since Andy has discovered a new stronger mentality and maturity in the last six to nine months. I am fairly relaxed as well as I feel as sure as eggs are eggs that this won't be Andy's last slam final.

The key to success for Andy will be rediscovering the sort of serving percentages he had against Federer and trying to be as aggressive as possible. If he can do that he'll have a great chance. The confidence will be sky high and self-belief must be at the highest it has ever been. If Andy wins he will create history as the first man in the Open Era to win his first two slams back-to-back and will pass Fred Perry's record of 105 wins in slam matches. Best of luck Andy.

Andy goes down in four sets to Novak Djokovic in a match he had chances in. He won the first set and had a golden chance to break immediately in the second set and never took it and end up losing it. From that point onwards I felt the writing was on the wall and as Novak raised his game Andy began to look tired and his serve never functioned as well as it did against Federer. Big credit to Novak though as some of his retrievals are mind-boggling and he equals the record of winning three Australian Open titles on the bounce. Murray can take much from this match such as a few hundred extra ranking points nudging him closer to Federer (ranked No.2), three back-to-back slam finals is an immense achievement and beating the great Federer for the first time in a slam in the semi. A disappointing end result but I am positive Andy will be back in many more slam finals.

For me Andy possibly lost it in the second set when he had three break points and was playing well but couldn't take them.

When the foot problem appeared I feared the worse but really there isn't a lot between both players but that second serve doesn't half get punished and he needs to work on it.

As Craig says beating Federer is the positive from the tournament and there will be plenty more opportunities for Andy and Novak to meet in future finals.

You have to laugh at some of the comments on the other forums, from I would imagine either Fed fans or football wums - comments like Novak was poor, Andy pathetic!

They both have more talent in their small finger than most have in their whole body - as for being poor, it would take the average one around twenty years to earn what these guys get for two weeks work lol